584,858 active members*
4,307 visitors online*
Register for free
Login
IndustryArena Forum > CAM Software > OneCNC > Just starting out
Results 1 to 17 of 17
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10

    Just starting out

    Hi guys,
    Im just starting out and trying to get to the crux of everything CAD/CAM. I am a freelence model maker/mould maker and recently started freelancing for a film/TV armourers company. The guy that owns it, bought a 2-axis Haas lathe and a 3-axis Haas mill about a year ago, and nobody has been trained in them up until now. After a chat about the dormant machines, he gestured some sales stuff on Onecnc and asked what I thought. Well, I thought 'bloody brilliant', going through the website, it looks like it could be something I could get to grips with fairly quickly. Now, looks and actual practices are two very differnt sides of the coin, so...... How 'easy' is it for someone with no exp of 3d modeling or CNC to get creative in a decent amount of time? Dumb question, I know! I will say however that in the last week, I have put about 10hours into the Hass operators and programing (G-code) manual and dont seem to have to many problems so far. Also I could mention that I taught myself Photoshop and illustrator (to name but a few), so I can pick up programs fairly quickly. Cant get my hands on a trial ver for OneCNC to try out at the moment as I am in the UK and they wont give one out (something to do with a German crack). I will have to wait a few weeks until I can organise a presentation before I can see it first hand. After going through various forums, its hard to find out what the true deal is but I am getting to grips with it all . Thanks in advance for any help!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    20
    You should be able to download the US demo version from http://www.onecnc.net/today/download.htm

    I havent used the demo much, but it looks fairly straight forward and well laid out (I've taught myself Alibre, Solidworks and Inventor to name a few, and I think OneCNC would be as easy to learn as those). The only major difference is OneCNC is CAD/CAM, which is both good and bad since you will be learning both at once.

    Good luck.
    Mike

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Thanks for that. The problem is you need to call to get an activation key and the US wont hand this out to anybody outside the US, bugger

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    20
    Mine said that, "call for activation", but it did an auto demo activation anyway (in the software). I'd suggest reinstalling it, putting in some US address for your info and seeing if that will work.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Will give it a go. Thanks!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    OK, up and runing on the eval. As soon as I tryed to launch without an activation I got a email with a code which was nice. I am now trying to get my head around it but have produced some basic models and making progress. Seems quite user freindly so far, but it is a case of setting a small series of tasks I want it to do, then spending some time battering away at the functions until I get it. Also went through some tool selection, tool path and simulations. Not bad for a couple of hours this afternoon and feel quite hopefull.

    Now the fun begins, expect a torrent of stupid questions soon! ;-)

    Cheers

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    4826
    Have fun, BawFlinger. None of us pros got this way without a bit of head scratching, mistakes and so forth, but the truth of it is, you can usually still cut something without it being the best way to do it! See my signature
    First you get good, then you get fast. Then grouchiness sets in.

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Thanks Hu, I judge from here and elsewhere that you will more than likely be the person I pester the most
    Here's a few pics of my first wee project. Took about 2 hours and was created from a drawing. Its a flashhider for an assault rifle and I recon if I were to do the same again, it would take about 30-40 mins. Now, for some more difficult tasks............

    Cheers!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails lee test 1.2.jpg   lee test 1.3.jpg   lee test 1.jpg  

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    2
    Where in the UK are you based? I use onecnc on the xyz minimill where I work. At the moment I am just editing programs with it, but we have a complex job to go on the machine in a few weeks that I wont be able to program on the control, so I will be using one cnc to do it.
    You can import 3D models into it, we use solidworks and just convert the files to IGES and then import them into onecnc.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Hi there, I am in High Wycombe, just North of London.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    2
    I am quite a bit further North in Rochdale. There is a book for onecnc, it isnt cheap but is very good. I will get a link for it on Monday if you are interested?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Cool, that would be great.

    Cheers!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Well, heres a pic of my final project on the eval, speaks for itself really. All took about 20 hours but sped up quite a bit in the final few hours as I got better. I found quite a few areas where the program falls down but I will reserve judgment when the chap from the UK offce come down to show us the program in full. I think he will have quite a shock that - A: I had the program, and - B: the sheer amount of grilling hes going to get on some of the functions. :stickpoke




  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    4826
    That looks really nice. 20 hours, you say, and you were a greenhorn at it, you say? No way
    First you get good, then you get fast. Then grouchiness sets in.

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Thanks Hu, Seriously! Must have waisted about 7-8 of those hours 'F' ing about trying to get it to perform a function by any and all means, before giving up and carrying on with what I could do. I had the biggest problems with Filleting and chamfering, dawmed thing didnt like me at all!! handgrip areas were a ***** and nowhere as smooth as I wanted. But hey! I knew nothing before last week, now I know something.....

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    4826
    Yes, filleting and chamfering can be a problem for the new guys. Put it this way, you've got to have an almost perfect model, and a good way to tell, is if it will fillet.

    There are certain circumstances where a fillet cannot fit, but most often, a poor fit of the surfaces will cause a problem. This means, create the model and be sure that all areas of the model components have a true intersection before you merge or union anything. Gaps are your worst enemy, and while merging may 'associate' a group of surfaces, it does not automatically perform any gap fill. This can deceive you much farther along in your model, because you usually fillet much later, as some of the last steps.

    Another common whoops, is that you have to merge the surfaces, and remove hidden surfaces to perform a fillet and have it work.

    I do not say I commonly tackle anything as involved as even your model is, so I'm not an expert modeller, but I know where to go for the answers. The OneCNC website user forums has enough guys around to figure out most problems that I have seen.
    First you get good, then you get fast. Then grouchiness sets in.

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    10
    Thanks for that and I get where you are coming from. I got to grips with merge and union pretty much at the start so I had to learn the hard way what chamf/fill could be performed before and after. In many circumstances, I had to re-possition a peice just to get the fillet I wanted but even then was not 100% happy with the result. I even had to completly scrap one idea after about an hour because it was not working at all. For me it tended to be weak when I know a fillet would work in real life but the standard program function just could not cope with the math even though the model was water tight. I do have to say though that the whole model was constructed from standard cube,cylinder,cone, torus, so no doubt once I get used to the other stuff (skinning etc), it will be wire frame city and I may get what I want. Extruding was another issue, but I am not going to go there! I will say that by-and-large, it is quite an easy program to get around and learn the simple stuff and understand why people like it so much, I found it fun! Put it this way, I just downloaded Rhino and sat staring at the screen for 5 mins wondering where to start, thinking 'oh my'... Anyway, a product demo and Q&A are next on the agenda

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •